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Review Summary:
Confrontation brings little new to the world of fantasy gaming. Almost all of the mechanics are found in other competing games. The only real difference is the inclusion of pre-painted miniatures.
In part due to the weak game play of the starter set, there is no reason to quit your current game to play this one.
Though if you are in the market for a new fantasy game, you might as well give it a try if you know someone else owns a copy.
Writing a review for this game has proven to be a somewhat frustrating venture. Due to cost and availability, I was only able to get my hands on the Wolfen vs Griffin Starter Kit. To be honest, I don't think the starter set can do this game justice. Confrontation needs large scale battles to have a chance at a decent gaming experience. But since Rackham considers that the starter set a stand alone game, I will treat it like one.
ARC marks the fourth edition of Rackham's Confrontation series. While I have not played the earlier editions, Wikipedia states that the 4th edition brings squad based game play and pre-painted miniatures to the front line. The starter set provides nine Griffin(Human) figures, five Wolfen(Giant Wolves) figures, a double sided battle map, a full color rule book, six six-sided dice, one plastic terrain piece, and an awful ruler. All this stuff retails for $70. There is the first problem with the game, the starter set is just too expensive for what it contains.
Let's not get too down so early on, so how about we talk about the game's strongest feature – the miniature figures. These things are beautiful and if the pictures in the rule book are any indication, things are only going to get better. For me I really do not care about having the figures painted. I really enjoy painting my armies and giving them a custom look. So as a result, this game will probably appeal most to the “I Hate Painting” crowd. That is not a bad thing, since every other epic scale fantasy game requires players to devote several weeks to painting figures. In addition to being painted, each figure has at least one articulated joint. This can be nice, though useless, touch.... Assuming that the figures don't end up falling apart like the Mechs from my Solaris Pack.
To some extent, I get a feeling of “Look I can do that too!” about several sections of the rules. Many of the game mechanics have been seen many times before. Figures must move in squads and have WARMACHINE style formations. To resolve combat, figures first roll to hit and then for each hit, a roll to wound must be made. Once a figure has taken a certain amount of wounds, they are removed from the board. Also, certain situations such as depleted ranks and terrifying creatures can cause units to take courage tests. While these rules are not bad, there is only a few cool quirks to the rules and none of these quirks make this game stand out. In case you were wondering, many of mechanics used in this game resemble those found in AT-43, Rackham's Sci-fi franchise.
I should probably highlight the two quirks that I did like. The first is the issue of bonus dice rolls. When making attacks or other events, natural rolls of sixes will trigger bonus dice rolls. For each six that is rolled, an extra die is then rolled in the resolution of the action. Therefore, if a figure attacks with two dice and one is a six, then the figure gets to roll a third attack. If that third attack comes up as a six, a fourth attack is rolled and so on. This can cause some crazy fun swings in the game play. Though in a small set like this where luck plays a major role, it can be devastating to be on the receiving end of such an attack. The other neat quirk is the universal resolution table. No massive tables to memorize here. Only a single table is used to resolve every action in the game. Each action in the game has a skill and a difficulty. Compare these values and consult a the universal resolution table to determine what value on a die is needed to be rolled in order for the action to succeed.
I mentioned that the starter set is really small. What I mean by that is that each player only controls two different game units in a battle. Movement tactics, which would exist in larger battles, are AWOL with this starter set. It doesn't take long before the pre-planned scenarios devolve into dice rolling events to determine the outcome of the battle. Rules are included for building custom forces, but there are not enough figures in this set to use those rules.
Another thing I need to commend Rackham on is the handling of Army Books. Each faction has an Army Book which is required for play. At first I was frustrated as the figures for this game are already expensive enough by themselves. Fortunately, the necessary information to play a faction is freely available on Rackham's website. I assume the printed army books will contain non-game related information such as faction's history. This is an excellent move and a model that other game companies should choose to adopt.
I could go on nit-picking about the rules, but that is what the podcast is for. Therefore, I will just finish up this review. Based on my experience with the starter set, I cannot see a compelling reason to drop your current game for Age of Rag'narok. It just does not have any “awesome” or “amazing” features to it. Though, if you are in the market for a new fantasy game, I would certainly give the game a try, but only if you don't have to buy it to play it.
